More than 1,600 people have returned to Riga and the Riga area as part of the Re-migration Coordinator Program

  • 2025-01-20
  • LETA/TBT Staff

RIGA - More than 1,600 people have returned to Riga and the greater Riga area during the Re-migration Coordinator Program, Inese Ozolina, a communication specialist of the Riga Planning Region, informed LETA.

In 2024, 256 people returned to the Riga region through the Re-migration Coordinator. The number of returnees who cite the rising costs in their countries of residence as the reason for their return increased last year. In total, more than 1,600 people moved to Riga and the Riga area as part of the Re-migration Program.

"What we observe is a stable interest of people living abroad in returning to Latvia. In our region, the greatest interest is in Riga, due to the wider opportunities to find housing for rent and the greater possibilities to provide children with places in educational institutions," says Edgars Rantins, Head of Administration of the Riga Planning Region.

Compared to Riga, educational institutions in the greater Riga area have limited capacity to enroll new children, as well as a low supply on the rental housing market. Last year, half of the re-migrants who used the assistance of the Re-migration Coordinator returned to Riga.

According to Daina Sulca, the Re-migration Coordinator of the Riga Planning Region, people of different ages and professions return to the region, but in 2024 there was a tendency for more families with children to return, as well as people who want to live in Latvia after reaching retirement age and having finished their active working career abroad.

One of the reasons for this is that costs abroad have risen sharply in recent years, making Latvian wages competitive as family expenses are lower. Re-migrants appreciate the wide and varied access to culture and recreation, as well as the internal safety situation in Riga and the greater Riga area.

The largest numbers of returnees to the Riga region were from the UK, Germany, Ireland, Sweden and Norway.

There have also been returns from Australia, the USA, New Zealand, Georgia, as well as a few cases of returnees from Russia.

The Re-migration Coordinator project in cooperation with the planning regions started in March 2018.

The Riga Planning Region covers nine municipalities - Riga and Jurmala, as well as Adazi, Kekava, Marupe, Olaine, Ropazi, Salaspils and Sigulda municipalities.